Patrol officers responded to a call of a stabbing at the Safe Haven (Boley) Center at 555 31st Street South on Thursday night.
Officers learned that two of the live-in residents were involved in a verbal altercation. One of the residents, Rafael Sanchez, 60, retrieved a pair of scissors from an unknown location in the facility. Sanchez then returned to the common kitchen area and stabbed the victim, Stephen Swiontek, 46, in the neck several times, striking a major artery.
Sanchez then left the facility, but was apprehended within a few blocks of the scene. Swiontek was transported to Bayfront Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Sanchez did not provide a statement and was transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
